Hey @popey…
I"m just researching how to run snap without systemd (a requirement that doesn’t really makes sense on a modern cgroups kernel). I didn’t intend for this to turn into yet-another-systemd-flameware. However… here we are…
Your argument is playing on the old “correlation does not indicate causality” claim, which, if pulled from the context of the living breathing Linux community, could true. However, upon closer inspection of the Linux community and its desires, your underlying point falls flat. While top-hits-per-day DOES indicate curiosity (not popularity), this is also is NOT the only indicator.
Another significant detail that actually matters is what is IN that #1 spot, and how strong this curiosity is. This #1 spot has been solid, non-systemd distros (for at least the last 6-8yrs), but this non-systemd/#1 hit-rate slot is also usually 2x or MORE the next most clicked distros.
But that’s not everything… if you really want to see what people are actively looking for… one of the biggest search feature requests (in the DW advanced search tool) the init category has been the init package of “Not systemd”.
This fact illustrates the codified request for not only for what people are looking for, but what they want to exclude. There are no other implemented NOT X options, anywhere on distrowatch (other than Not-based-on-distro).
For example, after Deb/Ubuntu adopted systemd, this is what drovee Linux Mint 17 to the top of the list… then once Linux Mint 18 enforced systemd, this is why it lost #1, dropepd dropped down, and other systemd-free distros like Devuan and MX Linux quickly took #1 slot. The community behind these trends is also why articles like this and this are still being written today .
These indicators all taken together paint a pretty clear picture, that since at least since 2013, a large % of the Linux community is driven by the ongoing hunt for non-systemd distros.
Linux people want choice, and systemd == !choice.
T.Weeks